Global Food, Beverage & Wellness Leaders Launch S2B
February 26, 2026
Maha Tahiri, PhD and Laura Cubillos, RD
The “Smallest Biggest Partner” Built for an AI-Driven Marketplace
Co-founders Maha Tahiri, PhD, Laura Cubillos, RD, Jose Cubillos, and Brian Ludwig announce the launch of S2B (S2BGroup). S2B is a new operating model designed to help food, beverage, nutrition, health and wellness brands shape what can be. Built on a foundation of scientific rigor, consumer and culture insight, credentialed expertise and AI-native capabilities, S2B turns science, story, and strategy into business impact. Our approach is intentionally lean, so clients get senior thinking without unnecessary layers. Tahiri will serve as CEO, L. Cubillos as President, J. Cubillos as Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer, Ludwig as Chief Operating Officer, and John Conlon as Head of AI & Technology.
Tahiri and L. Cubillos bring a combination of experience across the global food, beverage, and nutrition ecosystem that is uniquely powerful. Tahiri, a recognized global keynote speaker, brings decades of science-driven leadership, having guided global nutrition, scientific, regulatory, innovation strategy and communications at companies including General Mills, Danone, Coca Cola, and Mars. Cubillos complements this with deep expertise in nutrition science, public affairs, marketing and communications, having led food and beverage groups at three of the top five independent agencies - Padilla, FoodMinds, and Edelman - and bringing proven company building credentials as a cofounder of FoodMinds. Together, with the rest of the team, they offer clients something few can: a fully integrated understanding of how science, regulation, innovation, strategy, brand, and communications work in concert to drive outcomes that shape categories and accelerate growth.
“We built the partner we wish we’d always had - the smallest biggest player: expert-led, infrastructure-light, and built for creating category-shaping outcomes,” said Tahiri. “S2B brings science, culture, experts and AI together so leaders can make bolder, faster moves that are grounded in evidence.”
S2B integrates big-agency creative power, in-house scientific and regulatory leadership, hands-on innovation experience, deep cultural intelligence, and AI-native marketing and communications expertise into a single, unified model. Core services included strategic science, innovation and stewardship; signals, foresight and thought leadership; and storytelling, integrated comms and market activation.
One of S2B’s proprietary AI-native systems, AnswerSync™ is a category-defining approach for helping brands win in the answer economy. AnswerSync™ is the only Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) system purpose-built for food, beverage, and wellness - merging S2B’s scientific depth, cultural insight, and category expertise with BrandRank’s unmatched AEO intelligence. S2B’s AnswerSync™ gives leadership teams a single, integrated strategic compass and specialized content engine the industry has never seen.
“With AI leveling the playing field, small expert teams can now deliver what used to require big agencies,” said L. Cubillos. “While traditional agencies are undoing, we’re focused on doing things differently. No layers or structural drag – just passionate people who are all in on imagining, shaping, and making transformative ideas real.”
Beyond credentialed specialization, one major differentiator is S2B’s relationships with scientists, cultural thinkers, strategists, creators, foodies, policy experts, and technologists at the highest level. Another is its strategic alliance with BrandRank, who works with the world's top global brands to strengthen trust and purchase intent by uncovering vulnerabilities, purchase-driving insights, and growth opportunities across AI answer engines.
About S2B
S2B (S2BGroup, LLC) is a global, science-led, consumer and culture-driven, expert + AI-native operating model designed to help food, beverage, nutrition, health and wellness brands shape what can be. Our founder-led approach integrates Strategic Science & Stewardship, Signals & Thought Leadership, and Storytelling & Market Activation, powered by proprietary systems like AnswerSync™ and Octolium™. S2B brings a globally seasoned leadership bench and network spanning North America, Europe, LATAM, Asia, and the Middle East - and a structure where the people who know the industry best shape the work directly.
Contact: laura@s2bgroup.com